And I Quote . . . Working Quotations Into Your Documents Seamlessly

November 15, 2022

I often draw inspiration for my columns from my legal writing students; such is the case with this column. A recent assignment provided a perfect opportunity for my class to discuss the effective use of quotations in legal writing, and I recognized that my students’ questions were probably common to many practicing attorneys. So I offer the following suggestions for working quotations into your documents in a powerful, smooth, and technically correct way.

To Quote Or Not To Quote?

By its very nature, legal writing presents this question over and over. Much of the substance of our analyses and arguments consists of legal rules and reasoning contained in judicial opinions, statutes, and other authorities. When is it best to quote those authorities? When is paraphrasing more effective? How much quoting is too much?

I advise my students that overusing quotations dilutes the strength of the quotations, whereas including a few carefully selected quotations adds weight to their content. Deborah Bouchoux, author of my go-to legal writing style manual, puts it this way:

Use a quotation when what has been said is so articulate and apt that to paraphrase it would dilute its meaning, when the words of the quotation themselves are being analyzed in your writing, or when the author of the quotation is so well-known that a quotation from this source would provide instant credibility.[i]

Avoid the “quotation dump” at all costs—that is, avoid just copying and pasting language from the authorities and stringing the language together. As Bouchoux says, “Anyone can retype a case or legal authority.”[ii] Your goal is to weave the quotations together by providing interpretive information that helps the reader grasp the significance of the quotations.

When I Need To Quote, How Can I Do It Well?

You can help the reader navigate quotations in three key ways. First, use strong lead-ins to the quotations. The lead-ins should be substantive clues to the quotations’ significance, not just rote introductory words. The court stated is a weak lead-in; The court cautioned or The court clarified would be stronger. In Smith v. Jones, the North Carolina Court of Appeals stated is a weak lead-in (the citation that follows the quotation provides that information). The Court rejected the defendant’s argument would be a stronger lead-in.

Second, use block quotations sparingly. Bluebook Rule 5 requires block quoting for quotations of fifty or more words; and though the occasional block quote can add punch to your writing, if you overuse block quotes, your reader may eventually start skimming or even skipping them. When you do use block quotes, follow the Bluebook conventions: block quotes must be indented on the left and right, fully justified, and single-spaced, with the citation either outside of the block quote at the left margin of the next line of text or in a footnote. Do not put quotation marks at the beginning or the end of block quotes; the block itself indicates that you are quoting.

Third, be “scrupulously accurate” when quoting from cases; reproduce them “word for word, comma for comma, and character for character.”[iii] It’s not uncommon for courts to reprimand attorneys for altering quotations in misleading ways, such as using ellipses to omit key language or failing to show that the attorney, not the court, is the source of the emphasis in a particular quote.[iv] You have an ethical duty to indicate every change you make to a quotation.

If I Don’t Want To Quote, How Can I Paraphrase Effectively?

Practically speaking, paraphrasing allows you to minimize the number of long quotations in your document. But it also has other benefits. First, paraphrasing enables you to simplify important concepts from the authorities that may not be expressed clearly in the authorities themselves. Second, by paraphrasing a bulky rule or drawn-out reasoning and keeping only the most important words or phrases in quotation marks, you can draw the reader’s attention quickly to the key aspects of the rule or reasoning.

But it’s essential that when you paraphrase, you do it very carefully. Poor paraphrasing is one of the leading sources of imprecise writing. Particularly if you’re stating a legal rule, consider whether you can achieve a paraphrase that will aid, not hinder, the reader’s comprehension of the content. If not, just opt for the quote.

Bouchoux recommends this strategy for achieving effective paraphrases: “[R]ead the original source several times to make sure you understand it. Then use your own words to ‘reconstruct’ the material without looking at it. Check your finished writing against the original to ensure you have not used too much of the original source’s exact structure.”[v] I would add this tip: Keep any “phrases that pay”[vi]—key words or phrases on which your analysis or argument turns—in quotation marks, so that the reader will know that those words and phrases come from the original source.

How Do I Correctly Punctuate And Format Quotations?

Here are several punctuation conventions to observe when quoting material:

• Put periods and commas inside the quotation marks.
• Put semicolons and colons outside the quotation marks.
• Put question marks and exclamation points outside the quotation marks unless they’re part of the quoted material.
• Use single quotation marks around quotations within quotations.
• Use a thin space between double and single quotation marks.
• Use curlicue quotation marks; they’re more visually appealing than straight ones.

And here are some formatting conventions to observe:

• Use an ellipsis to indicate omitted material. An ellipsis is three dots with a space in between each dot and a space before the first dot and after the last dot.

Example: “It is incumbent upon the school, the parents, the students, and the community . . . to work together so that divergent viewpoints . . . may be expressed in a civilized and respectful manner.”

• If you’re omitting material that is at the beginning of the quotation, don’t use an ellipsis; use brackets.

Example: “[S]tudents do not shed their free speech rights at the schoolhouse door.”

• If you’re omitting material that is at the end of the quotation, add a period after the ellipsis.

Example: “The Supreme Court has given great deference to school boards, as in Fraser. . . .”

• Use brackets [ ] to show a minor alteration in a quotation, such as changes to words, such as the addition or omission of a letter or a change from uppercase to lowercase.
• Avoid using too many ellipses and brackets in a quotation; that can affect readability. If you find you need to do that much altering, consider paraphrasing.
• If you use an ellipsis within a quotation, make sure the remaining text of the quotation is grammatically correct.
• Capitalize the first word of a direct quotation if the quotation is a complete sentence but not if it is a sentence fragment.
• Use [sic]to signify that a word is quoted exactly as stated in the original, despite an obvious error. Some writing experts caution against overuse of [sic], which can be distracting and can appear petty. Use [sic] primarily when there is a reason to preserve and point out the error or when the error is so egregious that you don’t want the reader to assume the error is yours.

Not surprisingly, the Aspen Handbook has a wonderful compilation of tips for punctuating and formatting quotations correctly[vii]—and you can quote me on that!

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Laura Graham serves as Professor of Legal Writing and Director of Legal Analysis, Writing, and Research at Wake Forest University School of Law, where she has been teaching since 1999. She was the first recipient of the law school’s Graham Award for Excellence in Teaching Legal Research and Writing, which is named in her honor, and currently serves as immediate past president of the Association of Legal Writing Directors. Graham is a graduate of Wake Forest University and Wake Forest University School of Law.

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